This is part of my year-long series exploring human-centered alternatives to the spiritual promises in Oswald Chambers’ classic devotional My Utmost for His Highest. Today’s entry, “Don’t Think Now, Take the Road”, promises that believers can navigate impossible circumstances through “reckless” faith and “complete reliance” on Jesus, with God’s voice becoming clearer through abandoning yourself to divine guidance.
Here’s what reckless faith actually looks like:
“Be reckless,” her small group leader insisted. “The second you sense God’s voice, fling yourself out in faith.”
Rebecca was drowning. Her husband had vanished, leaving her with three kids under eight and debt that made her nauseous. Late nights found her on her knees, begging for divine direction. When she felt that gentle impression to quit her part-time job and trust God for provision—wasn’t that the Lord calling her to reckless abandonment?
She gave two weeks’ notice. After all, Peter had walked on water by keeping his eyes on Jesus instead of circumstances. Rebecca would do the same.
Weeks passed. No miraculous checks appeared. No unexpected job offers materialized. No financial gifts from mysterious strangers. Her small group assured her that doubt would sink her like Peter, so she smiled and claimed God’s faithfulness while her utilities got disconnected.
Where was the divine provision? The voice that had seemed so clear went silent exactly when she needed it most. Bills piled up. Her kids started asking why the refrigerator was empty. Eviction notices arrived.
Still, silence from heaven.
Her neighbor Kim had watched this spiritual train wreck with increasing alarm. Kim knew crisis intimately—she’d been abandoned by her ex with two children five years earlier. But Kim had never waited for God’s voice to guide her next move.
Instead, Kim worked two jobs. She maintained brutal budgets. She saved methodically for emergencies. When Rebecca’s car got repossessed, Kim finally spoke up.
“Stop waiting for God to fix this,” Kim said bluntly. “Start fixing it yourself.”
Kim helped Rebecca apply for emergency assistance, connected her with job placement services, shared the financial strategies that had actually worked. Her advice? Never make major decisions based on spiritual impressions.
The transformation began when Rebecca stopped listening for divine guidance that wasn’t coming. She enrolled in community college job training while working restaurant shifts at night. Instead of praying for career direction, she researched employment trends and developed actual skills.
Her circumstances improved through human effort and community support—not supernatural provision. The budget counselor at the nonprofit agency didn’t discuss faith. She taught Rebecca practical money management and credit repair.
The voice that finally guided Rebecca to stability wasn’t divine whispers calling for reckless faith. It was Kim’s blunt wisdom: trust verifiable advice from people who’ve survived what you’re facing.
The most reckless thing Rebecca ever did was abandoning her wait for God’s voice. The silence where divine guidance was supposed to be? That absence became her most reliable compass.
Reflection Question: When has trusting practical wisdom and community support been more reliable than waiting for divine guidance during crisis?
This story is part of my upcoming book “The Undevoted: Daily Departures from Divine Dependence,” which offers 365 human-centered alternatives to the spiritual certainties in Chambers’ devotional. Each day explores how reason, community, and human resilience can address life’s challenges without requiring divine intervention.
God or Delusion? 